John Kernan Mullen

John Kernan Mullen Irish-American businessman and philanthropist, 11 June 1847 - 9 August 1929.

Mullen was born to Denis Mullen (1806–86) and Ellen Mulray (1816–88) in the town of Ballinasloe, County Galway, in June 1847. He had elder siblings, Bridget (born 1841) and Maria (born 1842), his twin brother, John, and younger siblings Denis (born 1850), Kate (born 1853) and Ella (born 1855).

During the 1820s and 1830s, Denis and his brother, Thomas Mullen, "crafted barrels for the mills" of Ballinasloe, which had three oatmeal mills, two breweries and a flour mill. However, the advent of An Gorta Mór brought an end to whatever prosperity the family enjoyed. In 1856, the family emigrated to the USA, arriving in Boston. They settled at Oriskany Falls in Oneida County, New York, where Denis and Thomas purchased houses adjacent to each other, and close to the town mill, where John Mullen first worked at age fourteen. Mullen soon dropped out of school to help support the family. At his first job with the Oriskany Flour Mill, he learned the operation and won the respect of the owner, who placed Mullen in charge of the mill before he was twenty. In 1867, Mullen headed west looking for a mill in need of a miller. He spent time in Illinois and Atchison, Kansas. He settled in Troy, Kansas, where he was in charge of the Banner Flour Mills, owned by Tracey and Parker Company. After three years, Mullen left for Denver, where he worked for a mill owned by Shackelton and Davis.

In 1875, Mullen decided to operate his own mill. Mullen leased the old Star Mill in north Denver as a partnership with Theodore Seth. After a year, Mullen bought him out and the company became J. K. Mullen and Company. During the following years, Mullen took over the Iron Clad Mill, Sigler Mill, Excelsior Mill and opened the Hungarian Mill in 1882. In 1885, Mullen organized the Colorado Milling and Elevator Company to oversee all of the milling productions, with himself as general manager. In addition to milling, Mullen was involved in the land and cattle business. These businesses included the J. K. Mullen Land and Cattle Company located in Lamar, the Platte Land and Cattle Company in Logan County; and the Riverside Land and Cattle Company in Larimer County.

Mullen married Catherine Smith on October 12, 1874. They had five daughters: Ella Theresa Mullen (m. Eugene Henry Weckbaugh), Mary (May) Rose Mullen (m. Francis Louis Tettemer and John Lawrence Dower), Katherine Smith Mullen (m. James Emerson O'Connor), Frances Edith Mullen (m. Oscar Louis Malo) and Anna who died at the age of four. His daughters married and had families, but his sons-in-law found it hard to break through "Mr. Mullen's" reserve and to live up to his high expectations. All are buried in the Mullen plot at Mt. Olivet. Mullen became known as a philanthropist because of his numerous donations of land and money. Among his most notable gifts:

• Funds for the construction of the J. K. Mullen Memorial Library at Catholic University located in Washington D.C. and a fund to provide ten annual scholarships for Colorado men to the University
• The land and one-quarter million dollars for building the J. K. Mullen Home for the Aged in Denver, presently known as Little Sisters of the Poor Home for the Aged;
• Funds for the erection of St. Catejan's Catholic Church, a large Hispanic parish;
• Major donations for the construction of the Immaculate Conception Cathedral;
• Established the John K. and Catherine S. Mullen Benevolent Corporation in 1924.
• The Weckbaugh house (a gift to his first daughter Ella Weckbaugh)

In recognition of Mullen's efforts to help the Catholic Church, the Pope twice knighted him, first as a Knight of the Order of St. Gregory and later as a Knight of the Order of Malta. Mullen died on August 9, 1929. He was the first Roman Catholic to lie in state at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Denver. After Mullen's death, his daughters established in-state the Mullen Home for Boys in his memory.